Page 59 of In the Same Boat

‘Don’t look at the prices,’ he tells me.

I pull a face.

‘Are you just, like, completely cooked from living so well off with your dad that you think stuff like this doesn’t matter, or…’

My voice trails off, but I’m offended by how out of touch he seems.

‘No, my dad said he was paying,’ he reminds me.

‘Ah, right, okay…’

I feel like a bit of a cow now. Truthfully, I just feel so out of my depth here, and out of my comfort zone – the only thing I’m not out of is the full-body cringe I appear to be trapped in.

‘Your dad likes to make an impression,’ I say, trying to loosen up a bit.

‘Yeah…’

He looks a little embarrassed again.

It’s interesting, because if Hank has yacht money, and pricey restaurant money and order-bottles-of-champagne-like-they’re-house-red money, then it says something that Nico doesn’t seem to live it up in the same way – although I’m not sure what. He’s dressed well, yes, but not in a showy way. He doesn’t seem impressed by the prices although he doesn’t seem disgusted either.

None of this fits with my original read of him. Admittedly, my original read was smug man-child who plays video games and lives with his dad, and nothing more – but maybe there is a little more to him.

The waiter returns to take our order. For his main course, Nico orders grilled sea bass. I order the lobster linguine and, genuinely, looking at the price, I’m expecting something incredible.

Once the waiter leaves, we fall into another pause.

‘I wonder how Mum and Hank are getting on,’ I think out loud.

‘Probably better than us,’ he replies.

‘Let’s just try to make the most of it, shall we?’

Shocker – I’m the one having to be the adult here.

‘You know my dad has essentially tricked us into having a date, right?’ he says.

I scoff chaotically.

‘This is not a date,’ I insist.

‘Yeah, obviously, but that was his intention,’ he replies. ‘He thinks he can shove us at a table together and we’ll hit it off. I can read him like a book.’

‘Now you’re making me wonder if my mum co-signed the plan…’

‘My dad is obsessed with me dating,’ he explains. ‘He thinks I have a problem – that I’m not meeting people, that I’m not doing the right things when I do. It’s exhausting, having him take such an interest.’

‘Hmm, I’m starting to get the feeling my mum has a similar idea about me,’ I explain. ‘Of course, taking no blame for the situation, given that she’s living in my house, cramping my style.’

‘We can’t be that bad, can we?’ he replies. ‘So hopeless that even our parents are embarrassed by us…’

‘Okay, well, if this is structurally date-shaped, then we might as well use it to our advantage,’ I tell him.

‘Use it? How do we use it?’

‘As practice.’

Nico leans back in his seat.